Men's Soccer

This Week: Portland and Gonzaga
The fourth-ranked Santa Clara men's soccer team will begin a five-match, four-week road swing this weekend when it travels to the Pacific Northwest for a pair of matches at Portland and Gonzaga.

Portland enters the week with a 5-3-1 mark on the season. Last week, the Pilots opened their WCC schedule with a 0-0 draw at San Diego and a 2-0 loss at Loyola Marymount. Two Pilot starting defenders, Paul Robinson and Josh Brown, were red-carded in the match and will be forced to sit out Friday night's contest. In the series with Portland, the Broncos hold an 11-8-5 advantage, posting a 1-0 overtime win over the Pilots last season at Buck Shaw Stadium.

Gonzaga also opened its WCC slate last weekend in Southern California, dropping a pair of contests to LMU and USD. The Bulldogs are 4-6-0 on the year and are led by George Josten. Josten has posted a team-high four goals on the season and is atop the Gonzaga point standings with nine. Santa Clara has recorded a 6-4-1 mark against the Bulldogs since 1993. Over the past eight seasons, the teams have a 4-4 record, with each squad winning on its home field.

Last Week: West Coast Conference Opener
Santa Clara posted two shutout wins in its first weekend of conference action. The Broncos claimed a 1-0 victory at Saint Mary's on Friday, before returning to Buck Shaw Stadium to earn another 1-0 win over San Francisco on Sunday afternoon.

Sophomore forward Keith DeVey scored the game-winner for the Broncos at the 53:05 mark, only 32 seconds after entering the match. Medhi Ballouchy assisted on the goal for his team-high fifth assist of the season.

Santa Clara and San Francisco battled through out Sunday's match, as eight cautions were issued during the contest. However, Bronco forward Hector Guzman would break the 0-0 stalemate in the 88th minute to give SCU its second straight shutout victory.

Senior goalkeeper Kent Harkness brought his season shutout total to four with the two over the weekend. The Bronco defense held its sixth opponent of the season scoreless, as SCU has allowed only four goals in its first 10 matches.

Ballouchy Named WCC Player of the Month
Sophomore midfielder Medhi Ballouchy was named West Coast Conference Player of the Month, for the month of September. He shares the honor with San Francisco's Aaron Chandler. This weekend, Ballouchy notched his team-high 11th point of the season with an assist at Saint Mary's. Last month, the Casablanca, Morrocco native was one of only two players in the West Coast Conference to put up double digit points, while pacing the conference with four assists in September. Ballouchy earned two tournament MVP honors, an all-tournament team selection, two national team of the week awards and a WCC Player of the Week honor during his first month as a Bronco. Currently, Ballouchy is atop the SCU point standings with 11 and paces the team and conference with five assists this season.

Broncos Post 400th Win in Program History
September 24's 2-0 victory over Stanford marked the 400th win in the history of the Santa Clara men's soccer program. In the program's 38 years in existence, SCU has posted a 402-232-79 overall mark with a 108-83-21 record in West Coast Conference play.

Six different head coaches have led the Broncos towards this winning milestone, starting with Sal Taormina, who coached the program from 1967-71. After Dave Chaplik and Ralph Perez led the team from 1972-1985, current Los Angeles Galaxy head coach Steve Sampson took the helm of the program. Sampson led SCU to an unbeaten 20-0-3 mark in 1989 before Mitch Murray took over in 1991. Sampson, who is the only Bronco coach with 100 wins, led SCU to its first National Championship in his first season with the program. Current head coach and former SCU player, Cameron Rast earned his 30th career win this season in only his third year as head coach.

Harkness Among the Country's Leaders
Senior goalkeeper Kent Harkness continues to climb the NCAA rankings charts as his goals allowed average continues to plummet. With two shutouts this weekend, Harkness now has a 0.416 goals allowed average, to rank sixth among Division I netminders. The Spring, Texas native has allowed only four goals in 866 minutes in the net. Currently, Harkness has posted nine wins in 2004 and four shutouts. He has also registered 21 saves on the season, including four against San Francisco on Sunday.

In the Rankings
The Santa Clara University men's soccer team continued to be ranked among the nation's top teams this week, earning a spot in each of the four major polls. Soccer America and College Soccer News both list the Broncos fourth in the country, while Soccer Times ranks the program seventh. SCU is also ranked by the NSCAA (16). Two Bronco opponents appear the polls, while West Coast Conference foe Portland dropped out of the rankings after a 0-1-1 week in Southern California.

Broncos Earn National RecognitionMedhi Ballouchy, Jason Pan and Ryan Purtell have each been named to national teams of the week this year, giving the Broncos an honoree in each of the first three weeks of the season. Ballouchy was named to College Soccer News' Team of the Week on September 7 in after his first weekend in a Bronco uniform. A senior defender, Pan was picked by Soccer America honors after leading SCU to the GMU/Comfort Inn Classic title on September 14. Purtell was honored on September 20 by College Soccer News following his MVP performance in the SCU/adidas Classic.

Season/Match Tickets on Sale
Season and individual match tickets for Santa Clara University's nationally-recognized soccer teams are on sale through the Department of Athletics' official website www.SantaClaraBroncos.com, and the athletic ticket office at 408-554-4660, between the hours of 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

In conjunction with its exclusive Internet partner, College Sports Online, the athletic department has developed an online ticket application that provides fans with the ability to purchase season tickets, family plans, individual matches or an all-sports pass via the official athletic website. A men's and women's soccer season ticket package that includes the 17 home matches is available for the adult price of $65 each, while a family plan provides a family of five admission to each game for the low price of $100. Youth (12 and under) and senior (over 65-years-old) season tickets are also available for $30. Single games are priced at $7 for adults, $5 for youths and seniors and $2 for non-Ruff Riders SCU students as well as members of Bronco Kidz. Single match team passes are also available for $35.